reef tank lights; will 4x96watt power compact fluorescents ,+ 1x175watt DE MH be enough light on a 90gal. ?

Question

2 x ARO brand PC ballast, will power up to 192W (2x 96W), + 1 x 10,000K 175 watt Odyssea double ended MH. , + a 48" polished aluminum mirror reflector ,actual working dimensions: 48 1/16"L x 10"W x 2"H. it will all be under an oak hood with 4 fans, and no worries on heat cause i have a 1/4 horsepower inline chiller plumb in. so that makes 559watts of light 24inches above the sand bed over this 90gal. tank. , will this work for clams, corals and such ?

Answer 1

The PCs wont be good enough for the clams, because the height of your tank is large for a reef tank. The MH could be stepped up to a 250 watt, because 175 is on the smaller size for supporting clams. Your current set up is fine for almost all corals, depending on their placement in the tank. I would also do A LOT of research on the Odyssea lights. I have heard more bad than good about this brand. Good luck.

Answer 2

The 175 watt MH you have, is good, but the light will only cover half of your tank. You could get a diamond lumenarc reflector and that will cover a larger area.

Your PC will help you with the rest, but as you know they are not strong enough, especially if one of your PC is atinic then it will only work for coloration but not to sustain corals on its own. Unless you are planning to sustain your clams and high light corals exactly under the MH bulb.

Answer 3

I run 4x96 compact fluorecents on my 125 (same depth just longer) and most coral do fine with them (all but the ones that requre very bright light) so with the addition of the MH most anything coral wise will do fine in your tank. As far as the clams my lighting won't support them so I am not overly familiar with them, but if you place the clam more or less directly under the MH they should be fine. If you want to place them anywhere else you may want to consider upgrading.